Bogus Zimbabwean care worker jailed in UK

Bogus Zimbabwean care worker jailed in UK

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By Staff Reporter

A BOGUS Zimbabwean care worker who stole from vulnerable old ladies in the United Kingdom has been jailed for a second time.

Tanyaradzwa Nkata, 21, used fake documents and false identities to get work with care agencies in Stevenage, Hitchin and Luton.

But then she would steal from those in her care, often taking bank cards or cheques and using them to obtain goods.

From one lady in Stevenage she stole a ruby ring that had been given to her by her late husband on their 40th wedding anniversary. The thief was wearing it when she was arrested, Luton Crown Court was told.

Another woman aged 93, also in Stevenage, rang her son when her bank had contacted her to see if a cheque made out for £900 was legitimate, said prosecutor Isabel Delamere.

The cheque was one of two that Nkata had stolen from her, but the bank was suspicious about it.

Nkata had appeared at the same court in May this year under the name Ncube for identical offences and she was jailed for nine months.

It had been anticipated that she would ask for these further offences to be taken into consideration on that occasion but that did not happen.

As a result police charged her with 15 further offences on the day of her release. They were committed during a year beginning in April 2004.

Nkata, of Downs Road, Luton, pleaded guilty to the 15 charges which included theft and obtaining by deception. She was jailed for two years and Judge Jeffrey Burke QC recommended deportation, although the UK is not currently deporting people back to Zimbabwe.

He told her: "When you were in the houses of those who needed care, you used the opportunity to steal. These are mean and nasty offences which caused great distress and anxiety to people who are least able to cope."

Kathryn Hirst, defending, said Nkata was acting under the influence of a boyfriend who provided the false documents.

"She was reluctant but he said it would be easy to blacken her character over the internet."

Miss Hirst said Nkata could not earn money legally as an asylum seeker and she needed to send money home to her four-year-old daughter in Zimbabwe who is HIV positive.

The court was also told that Nkata's father was murdered in March 2002 because of his involvement with the Movement for Democratic Change - The Comet 24
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